♪ >> good morning everyone. i am heather nauert. >> i am ainsley earhardt. it is tuesday october the 2nd. thank you for watching fox and friends first. we start with your 5@5:00. a bombshell new report detailing massive waste of tax payer money leading to the resignation of a top veteran's affair official. stepping down after the inspector general report revealing last year costs $6.1 million. some of you i know are wondering what someone like me is doing in a place like this

talking to people like you. what i don't know -- >> this spoof of the movie patton was produced just for that event. it had a price tag of 50,000 dollars. in addition the conference org nierzs gave themselves 43,000 in bonuses. an amtrak train derails after it collides with a tractor trailer. 20 people were hurt. the train was headed from oakland to bakers field that's when the truck through right through the gate. passengers were tossed around including a new born baby. >> the seat in front of us was ripped out and fell on top of him. i had to lift the seat up and i found him in his car seat. a thank goodness none of

those were life threatening. crews hope to have it up and running soon. >> 8 planes were pulled out of commission to inspect them. the plane forced to turn around and then return back to new york. it comes after a flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a row of seats began sliding around on a plane. this follows a string of issues on the airline that resulted in massive delays and cancellations in recent weeks. a crucial ruling about whether to present a photo id at the polls will remain in effect. judge robert simpson will determine whether people in that state have equal access to photo id's in time for the election. the law sparked a whole bunch of protests who say it alienates

citizens. if they rule against the law it will be put on hold until after the election. >> check out the white house. this is what it looked like in honor of breast cancer awareness month. across the bond in london buckingham palace turning pink, too. those are your 5@5:00. talking politics now president obama and mitt romney have the first debate tomorrow in november. we have a new poll that is out but it hasn't done much for the politics the national average for the polls. it was up 3 and a half points. the national picture remains very, very close. one of the swing states is the

scene of the debate. he got last minute campaigning he got a last minute endorsement from quarterback john elway. he is preparing for a much more critical stage on wednesday. >> these debates are an opportunity for each of us to describe the pathway forward for america that we would choose. american people are going to have to make their choice as to what kind of debate they want. it will be a conversation with the american people that will span almost an entire month. the university of denver is still being set for the three debates. president obama is spending time at a nevada resort. he runs through rehearsals. >> what i am most concerned about is having a serious discussion about what we need to do to keep the country growing and restore security for

hard-working americans. that is what people are going to be looking for. that's the debate you deserve. because in the coming weeks you are going to have a big choice to make, nevada, and it's not just the choice between two candidates or two political parties. it is a choice between two different paths for the country. >> the focus is primarily on domestic issues. the roll out in the campaign trail especially in the wake of the libya consulate attack. >> doug luzader thank you so much. it is time to look at who is talking this morning and the first presidential debate a lot of us are talking about this morning. that's what brit hume is calling. this will be a closer race in all likelihood as we get closer to election day.

one consensus, an incumbent running with a record like this. with an economy with a recession with all of the trouble he has been having overseas. it is surprising many people that he is ahead. we keep thinking something will happen. mitt romney seems an acceptable enough guy. he is not a great politician a national politician he seems an honorable decent enough man if people were ready to make a change they would not have trouble relying on him as a reliable change agent. we keep waiting for something to cause it to happen. that's why a lot of republicans are down cast in this state. bill o'reilly went on to say if mitt romney does well like ronald reagan did against jimmy carter he can immediately become the frontrunner. all things change because of

this. >> an attack left four americans dead. still a big talker this morning the white house has come under severe scrutiny for the official version of what happened. the administration originally called it a spontaneous attack. >> a whole lot of folks. >> donald rumsfeld talked to greta about. he slammed the administration for the foreign policy saying it's a failed model. >> i think the foreign policy of this administration for 3 and a half, four years now has been one of a step back in the phrase that came out of the white house to lead from behind. which you can't lead from behind. leaders lead from the front. the economic management of our country has told the world that we are in decline and it was sufficient that the vice

president of the united states had to go at the convention and say we are not incal decline. why did he have to say that? it is clear the country is managing its economic apairs faa way that we are modeling them after europe. that's a failed model. >> secretary rumsfeld also weighing in on the heavy see issue about why the fbi has yet to head to benghazi and libya to check out the crime scene. he says it is probably for security reasons. nevertheless a big issue. let's talk weather now. maria molina is here with an update on the current weather. good morning. we are starting off with a cool note. minneapolis and 44 in rapid city. we will be heating up after temperatures well above average for this time of the year. 86 over rapid city. 73 in minneapolis.

mild as we head into the southeast as well. we are expecting high temperature at 82 in raleigh 72 atlanta. the reason it will be mild we have a storm system pushing eastbound. it is pulling in much warmer air from the south on northward. you can see sours already across parts of florida, georgia into the carolinas. it will be across the state through out the evening hours as the system will be a relatively slow mover. the northeast will be impacted by the system. quiet over new england later today into tomorrow expect to see the showers moving on in. otherwise with the storm system we have a chance for severe weather, answerly and heather, across ohio, west virginia. >> you will keep us posted. now to stories you can bank on this morning. travelers who wait to pay for their carry-on bag when they get to the gate. they will be digging a little deeper in their pockets. lauren simonetti joins us with all of the details. some of the cost saying airlines

could cost us more. >> i couldn't believe this. make sure you have $100 on you the next time you are flying spirit. fliers who don't pay for carry-on bags ahead of time will be charged 100 bucks at the gate starting november 6th. even if you are prepared and pay ahead of time you will be paying more. most baggage fees are going up at least 5 bucks next month. this is what they have to say about all of this. the fees save time and it reduces the fuel consumption rate. i have to ask about reducing ticket rates that we pay. >> $100. that's a lot. american express settling the late fees. credit card giants agreeing to pay $112 to settle charges that engaged in illegal car practices such as charging unlawful late fees and discriminating against account applicants because of their age. they did this for the past nine years. 85 million will go to quarter

million customers. if you are one of them you will get a check or credit to your account by march. the rest will be paid out to different federal agencies in fines and penalties. >> we are in october hard to believe holiday season right around the corner. what are the predictions as far as shopping is concerned? >> we are going to shop but not until we drop. the national retail federation is out to the holiday sales forecast. rises 4.1 percent this year. that's a smallest increase since 20009. in all of the years he has been doing this this year has been the most challenging during the holiday forecast because there are guess what? too many uncertainties out there. >> they are just an estimate. we have to see what really happens. >> i am always contributing. to the retailers. 11 minutes after the top of the hour. a disturbing drop an absentee ballot request from our nation's military. we will examine if enough is

being done to protect our troop's right to vote. the vifight over obama care cou soon see itself back over the supreme court. price tess pump, national average 3.78 a gallon. ♪

>> good morning. we are back now it is 15 minutes past of tthe hour. here is what you missed while you were sleeping. a $5.6 million payment for retiree benefit that was due on sunday. it missed a similar payment in august. it lost $15 billion in the last fiscal year. it still says that service won't be interrupted.

>> oo a lawsuit says baear ster didn't evaluate securities so it ended up costing investors more than $22 million. chase says the faulty reviews were done before it bought baer sterne. >> there has been a drop in absentee ballots from our troops. it is not too late for those fighting for freedom to have their voices heard. james? >> the head of a nonprofit chalks up this year's plunge in absentee ballot requests to quote bureaucratic inner shaw at the department defense. >> they do well keeping us safe. sometimes with the social issues it doesn't have the motivation it has with other issues.

they are focused on keeping america safe. i get that. >> state by state surveys show absentee ballot requests were less than half of the 2008 total. in virginia they are at 1 percent of the 2008 level. in ohio and north carolina this year's request were one-tenth of those four years ago. the dod relies on sketchy data in this regard. the pentagon has not spent the estimated 15-20 million dollars per year needed to establish the voting assistance offices that dod is required by law to set up at all installations. the record told fox news that it complies fully with the loss. >> it is the best it has ever been. we have all of the different methods and means at our disposal. we have the great web site with on-line that will walk folks

through. we have a download. >> listen up it's not too late to request, e receive and cast your absentee ballot. go to sazp.gov or hero's vote.org. hero's vote.org. >> as long as there's an on-line wizard. >> that leads us to our question of the day. this is what we would like you to brew on. is the pentagon doing enough to help the military vote sevenltd over the comments. you can tweet them to us at fox friends first or shoot us an e-mail at foxfriendsfirst@foxnews.com. it is 18 minutes after the hour. a whole lot of us are making less money but we are spending more money. in these tough economic times. vera gibbons is here to help you

save when you are making less money. >> country over football. that's the motto of one nfl owner who says it is more important for romney to win than his team.

>> opening arguments begin today after americans were accused of helping terrorists.

he krrecruited men. he has a history of seizures and he told the court he is seeing ghosts. prosecutors say multi billion dollar fraud carried out by bernie madoff carried out as early as the 1970s. that according to an indictment with charges over several long time employees. madoff is serving a 150 year prison sentence. heather? >> ainsley thank you so much. >> a lot of americans are dipping into their savings. listen to this. household incomes went down since july and august. incomes are expected to take a bigger hit when the payroll tax cut expires in january. busheir raw tax cuts can expire. can people save even when their income drops? >> it is becoming challenging. >> income is down but spending is up. they are spending their saving the. >> they are dipping into savings

an retirement accounts. >> that can be dangerous. you have tips to save money. number one refinance your home. they are repaying by 500 a -- over paying 500 a month. if they rebhn finance she wouthd save 57,000 dollars over 10 years. rates hit a low last week. 30 year 3.4 percent, 15 year under 3 percent. >> i heard 2.6, 2.8 percent. >> they must have very good credit. >> it is probably the process. income verification. they don't want to do that. >> you could save a lot of money if you point out 500 or more per

month. >> tax breaks not everyone is taking advantage of. explain some of those. >> earned income tax credit. middle income workers that's worth nearly 6,000 dollars. the child care credit that one is 20-30 percent of your child care costs and that is a credit. it reduces taxes dollar per dollar. they leave them on the table year in year out. >> if somebody is going to h & r block do they not ask that question? >> if you are using tax stock it helps you automatically. a lot forget about this tax break. >> make sure you pay your bills on time. >> people are disorganized they are getting late fees their interest rates go up their credit has been hit they can't buy a house or rent a car or get a cell phone. it's a domino effect. set it up so you are paying bills automatically. there's a time and place to pay the bills and do it.

>> oo hagel with cell phone companies? >> anybody. anybody. it became very in style a couple years ago. any one is doing it. they have better deals on hotels and cell phones. 70 percent get a better deal on electronics and cell phones. if you are not negotiating you are losing out. >> even the cable bill? >> everybody. >> thank you so much. 26 minutes after the hour and coming up, is the obama administration playing politics with jobs. despite is goibeing against thew the white house is asking defense contractors with layoff notices does it have anything to do with the election? we report you decide. with congress taking over a fiscal clip your wallet could take a major hit. whether he tell you more about this. first on this day in history in 1950 the first peanuts comic was published.

>> welcome back to fox and friends first. i am ainsley earhardt. >> i am heather nauert. it is now half past the hour. now it is time for your top 5@5:30. the legal battle over obama care may not be over yet. the supreme court is giving the obama administration 30-days to respond to a new challenge from liberty university. the school is fighting to force

an appeals court to hear its case. liberty says the employer mandate is unconstitutional and the individual mandate violates the right to freedom of religion. the school argues both issues were not addressed when it was upheld in june. a new report says the united states has given up on a peace deal with the taliban. a member of the coalition telling the times a new goal will let africans work out the deal once coalition forces leave. the 2014 dead lane for combat operation weakens the chance for a deal. the race could determine which party controls the u.s. senate. republican senator scott brown and democrat elizabeth warren trade blows in their second debate for the massachusetts senate seat. warren once again facing the

heat for becoming a native american. >> i have never used native american to get into college or law school or not to get hired in any job. >> senator brown making an appeal to all voters. i don't work for anybody. i work for the people of massachusetts. that's what being an independent is all about. a good idea is a good idea regardless of where it comes from. that is evidenced my voting record and being named the least pardoned senator in the united states senate. >> it shows warren with 49 percent of the vote and brown with 45 percent. that's within a margin of error. if you have peanut butter in your cabinet it is 101 products after salmonella was link to do trader joe's peanut butter.

31 people have been sick in 19 states. no deaths have been reported. some of the brand names here they are included in the recall archer farms, earth balance, fresh and easy, late july and natural value. this is a comeback journey it took 7 years to complete. he will accomplish his goal at getting a major league at bat. when greenburgh stepped up to the plate for the first time he got hit in the back of the head by a pitch. he suffered vertigo and that ended his career. >> he created the campaign one at bat.com and had over 120,000 people sign the petition to get me back. it reenergized me personally. i get to relive a dream, part 2 but really get to enjoy and appreciate it. >> congratulations. greenburgh will be i making his return with the miami marlins.

that is the 5@5:30. bowing to pressure and holding off on issuing layoff notices to thousands of employees. is the obama administration playing politics since the pink slip would come days before the election. kelly wright is live with more. november 2nd is the time. it provided thousands of jobs for the battle ground state in virginia. a wave of job cuts could spell troubled doom even for president obama's for a second term. now they have announced that it will not issue job layoffs following the department of management and budget that employer also not have to comply with the law to warn workers they can reduce the law. by law companies should employ at least 100 employees should

provide, must provide written warnings to workers. the omp states to further minimize waste and destruction with unwarranted layoff notices this memorandum provide guidance regarding the certain liability and litigation costs associated with compliance. >> it's indefensible. you make the point the law is very clear if because this administration companies won't have to make layoffs they have to give notice. obama says don't tell anybody you are going to get laid off because of what's happening in our administration, but they go beyond that and say not only don't comply with the law but we will make the taxpayers pay your legal bills. that is outrageous.

>> he is echoing the senate. they are sending layoff notices in an effort to pressure congress and the white house to take action against defense cuts. lockheed martin releasing a statement that in part concludes we remain firm in our conviction the automatic and across the board budget reductions are infective policy that will weaken and damage our national security and adversely impact our industry. lockheed has gone ahead with the plan not to release the layoff notices and says it will continue to work with government leaders to find a more thoughtful solution. if lawmakers fail to reach a deal the administration automatic spending cuts would go into effect in january 2013. kelly, thank you. >> what do the employees think of all of this? >> on to the presidential race time to look who is talking president obama and governor mitt romney set to face off for

the first time tomorrow at the presidential debate in denver. >> charles krauthammer talking about mitt romney's strategy on special report last night. what can romney do to come out on top? here is his take. >> romney did well in his debates. he got better he has done a lot of them. people are saying obama hasn't debated for a long time. he came out of nowhere beat the clinton machine. i think he is going to be strong. i think his one weak point is that he is thin skinned. if romney can manage to get under his skin in some way i think that actually happened in 08 one or two of the clinton debates. i think it could sort of puncture that aura as that obama had. i don't think there is any way you could be decisive. one thing that will help romney is always true of the challenger

just being on the same stage as the president instantly raises your stature. i think if he can hold his own and perhaps prevail even to a minor extent he will reverse the momentum which has been rather negative. >> the first debate takes place tomorrow october 3rdrd. our coverage starts not a minute later 8:55 p.m. meg begin k megan kelly bret bal be there live. you need your first degree weather update who has rain in the east. >> good morning. good morning everyone. we are talking about rain across the east unfortunately today will be a muggy day out here. a lot of humidity and also showers stretching from portions of pennsylvania down into the state of florida. it is across portions of south florida. could be seeing problems on the road as we head out to work early this morning over west virginia and also parts of

central pennsylvania settled across portions of the east. we will see possibility of severe weather with damming wind gusts but isolated tornado will not be without. that is in eastern kentucky waernd parts of the state of west virginia. high temperatures today very mild across portions of the northern plains new york city enjoy the warmth while you are in the northern plains. 57 for a high in rapid city. we will see the temperatures dropping us there. thank you so much. talk bent tanment now. seth mcfarland will be hosting the academy awards. this will be the first time the family guy creator and head director will host the show. some are saying it's another bid to try to draw in a younger crowd. he recently hosted the 38th season debut of "saturday night live" and the charlie sheen

roast last year. the oscars air often february 24th. he may soon be over. keebler is afraid it will be dumped any minute. he was seen crying at an event last week. >> getting our first look at vanessa and nick lachey's bundle of joy. they tweeted this picture of camden sleeping in his mother's arms. they had the baby last month. he is a little guy right there. now for your starting lineup. stories making headlines at this hour. the bears defense with tony roam mow. he picked off roam mow five times. dallas falls to 2 and 2 on the season. they stand for division champs.

>> there they are celebrating the washington nationals winning their first division title. they clinched the national league east after the braves lost. it will be the first time in 79 years the nationals capital i should say. we will have post season baseball. winning games definitely isn't the only thing that matters the new york jets owner says mitt romney will see the jets who are 2 and 2 of the winning season. country comes first. it is an important election for future generations. >> that is no small statement, right? >> it is 41 minutes after the hour. a jump over fiscal cliff by congress wo could set you back by thousands of dollars. if you are a parent you need to listen up if your teen isn't getting enough sleep he or she could be at risk for a serious health ailment.

>> it's now quarter to the top of the hour. let's span the globe to see what stories are making headlines overseas. we are starting in hong kong. the search for survive ors is now on after a boat crash leaves 37 people dead. a serious note. more than 100 others are injured. a ferry reportedly slamming into the boat and kept going. take a look at the fireball shooting into the sky in winnipeg forcing residents to evacuate raising fuel short in the warehouse caused the fire and the explosion there. the blaze is now under control and no one was injured. mark zucker burg putting away his traditional hood de and sporting a suit. he is meeting with the prime minister to talk about the

expanding role in russia. he gave the prime minister a facebook t-shirt. >> surprised he didn't give him a facebook hood de. >> americans will soon be facing a serious financial crunch if congress doesn't act soon. here to break it down is diane. study by the tax policy center found nearly 90 percent of the tax hike. >> spending cuts have to take effect at the start of the new year. the study says in all taxes will go up by a collective 536 billion next year about $3,500 per household with individual impacts ranging from 3.7 percent of their after tax income. off the 120,000 dollars for top one percent earners that's a more than 10 percent cut of their income. most taxpayers will be hardest hit by the expiration of busheir

raw tax cuts in 2001 to 2003 followed lie payroll tax cuts by obama. this is the end for businesses and the child tax credit and college tuition credit chooses the alternative minimum tax and related to president owe bam paw's healthcare law. the spending cuts agreed upon as part of last year's debt ceiling deal will go into effect including major cuts in medicare and defense. they are reportedly working on strategies to deal with the issue even if they come up with a plan of attack don't expect there to be any real negotiations on this until after the presidential election. >> always of the election. we need that help now. it is now 47 after the top of the hour. the bizarre seating situation at american airlines could be more widespread that n we first thought. we will have a live report coming up.

after a sharp drop in absentee ballots by the nation's members of the military is the pentagon doing much to help the votes next year? we will read your e-mails to find out. good morning, brian. >> good morning to you. it will be unusual. pregame show. we are talking about debate number one. arguably the most important debate. the problem is we don't have any big names except bill o'reilly he's really tall. laura ingram she is kind of good and arnold schwarzenegger i guess we do have big names. talks about the military and winning the super bowl. barry sanders talks about great nfl history and my former band banana ramah is here. i can't wait for the reunion. it will be exciting. the governor wrote a book page 550. 50 pages left.

>> good morning. it is 8 minutes before the hour. here is a quick look at headlines. honda is recalling 573,000 accord v6 sedans over concerns of power steering leaks that could cause drivers to lose control and could even lead to fires. for the 2003 through 2007 models honda is also expanding the recall of the acura pl to include the 2007, 2008 models for the very same issue. teenagers have a good reason to get more of these. there's a new study out it finds sleep deprived teenagers are more at risk of developing diabetes. researchers say insulin resistance which could lead to diabetes increases with less sleep. another scare in the air for american airlines passengers

after more lose seats are discovered during a flight headed for miami. it has been revealed from a flight to dallas. drew is at new york jfk airport for the latest. >> hi there ainsley. good morning. this is pretty scary especially for the passengers on board the american airlines flights. the new york post is reporting this first happened last week on an american airlines flight from veil to dallas. then on saturday passengers on an american airlines flight from boston to miami came lose mid flight an the pilot had to make an emergency landing at jfk airport. a flight had to return to jfk because of problems with lose seats. all of these planes had maintenance work to require the seats to be removed and reinstalled.

an american airlines spokesperson said there could be an issue with a certain model of seats and how they fit into the tracking on the floor. a total of 8 boeing 757's has been removed. they are investigated the faa. we should point out no injuries were reported on any of these flights. reporting live kerry drew. we asked you to brunn this. there has been a drastic drop on ballot requests for our troops. we wanted to know if you thought the pentagon is doing enough to help the military vote. >> here are some of your responses so far. pamela gordon tweeted us no our dod and pentagon should be ashamed our military deserves better. why weren't theirs a priority. >> being a retired master sergeant of 23 years i can tell you devoting is available to troops but advertising it stinks. >> my first received an absentee

ballot five months after the presidential election. there's little or no credibility to mill tear veeting in the president hal election. we like to hear from you. it is 6 minutes before the hour. this woman is showing the bear who is actually the boss here, look at that, it's a part of the good, the bad, the ugly. >> can you figure out the word of the day? it will be at the bottom of the screen right k-- where is it? you have to trust us on this one. we will be right back with it in a minute.

>> ♪ >> one and half minutes until the top of the hour. we look at the good, bad and

the ugfirst the good. a crow is one of the kids for a canadian family. they found it injured and nursed it back to help and now it never left. and it is one of the family. it walks the kids to school every day. >> a woman not afraid to show the black bear a boss. >> right now. no, no. no. no. >> woah. he listened to her. the video has more than 570,000 hitos youtube. wild turkeys take over in philadelphia and they are waking toup turkey calls and they go outside and see the dozen turkeys parading down the street. it happened to us until the turkeys met the german shepers .